iOS 11.2 makes it clearer how Control Center’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles work

iOS 11 has changed how Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switches in Control Center work, but many users didn’t get the memo and were left dumbfounded realizing toggling these controls off doesn’t really shut down wireless radios.

To address that problem and help avoid further user confusion, Apple has included a pair of popups in iOS 11.2 beta 3 to explain the updated functionality of the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles. Now when the user brings up Control Center and taps on either switch for the first time, an informational popup offers a brief explanation how they work.

Tapping the Wi-Fi toggle yields a message saying that the current Wi-Fi network and others nearby will be disconnected while the Wi-Fi radio will continue to be available for features like AirDrop, Personal Hotspot and location accuracy.

A similar message appears when the user interacts with the Bluetooth switch in iOS 11.2’s Control Center for the first time. “Currently connected accessories will be disconnected and other accessories will not connect,” reads the prompt. “Bluetooth will continue to be available for Apple Watch, Apple Pencil, Personal Hotspot and Handoff.

Before iOS 11.2, toggling Wi-Fi or Bluetooth off in Control Center greyed out the icons. In iOS 11.2, the icons turn from blue to a white background that’s visually similar to the Volume and Brightness sliders in Control Center.

The new iconography is definitely more consistent with the rest of Control Center while helping better distinguish between the on, disconnected and off states for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth buttons.

Updated iconography for the disconnected Wi-Fi and Bluetooth states in iOS 11.2

Given that the Electronic Frontier Foundation recently criticized Apple’s implementation of these switches, calling them “misleading“ and “bad for user security,” Apple’s done the right thing introducing these informational popup in iOS 11.2.

What do you think about these changes? Do they make your more confident interacting with Control Center’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles?